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Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 – August 2, 1859) was an American education reformer, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Republican) from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834-1837. Mann was a brother-in-law to author Nathaniel Hawthorne, their wives being sisters.
Education and early careerHorace Mann was born on May 4, 1796,[1] in Franklin, Massachusetts. As a child, he made use of a town library founded by Benjamin Franklin. He enrolled at Brown University at the age of 20, and graduated after three years[2] as valedictorian of his class in 1819. He then studied law for a short time at Wrentham, Massachusetts; was a tutor of Latin and Greek (1820-1822), and a librarian (1821-1823) at Brown University. He also studied during 1821-1823 at Litchfield Law School (the law school conducted by Judge Tapping Reeve in Litchfield, Connecticut), and in 1823, was admitted to the Norfolk, Massachusetts, bar. In 1830, Mann married Charlotte Messer, though she died only two years later on August 1, 1832. His grief over her death never fully subsided.[3] Education reformIt was not until he was appointed secretary (1837) of the newly created board of education of Massachusetts that he began the work which was to place him in the foremost rank of American educationists. Surprisingly, at the time, he had no special interest in education. He was only encouraged to take the job because it was a paid office position established by the legislation. He started as the secretary of the board. This led him to become the most prominent national spokesman for that position. He held this position, and worked with a remarkable intensity, holding teachers' conventions, delivering numerous lectures and addresses, carrying on an extensive correspondence, and introducing numerous reforms. He planned and inaugurated the Massachusetts normal school system in Lexington and Bridgewater, founded and edited The Common School Journal (1838), and began preparing a series of Annual Reports, which had a wide circulation and are still considered as being "among the best expositions, if, indeed, they are not the very best ones, of the practical benefits of a common school education both to the individual and to the state" (Hinsdale). In this journal, Mann targeted the public school and its problems. The six main problems he targeted were: (1) the public should no longer remain ignorant and free, (2) that such education should be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that this education will be best provided in schools that embrace children of all diversities; (4) that this education must be free of religious influence; (5) that this education must be taught by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society; and (6) that education should be provided by well-trained, professional teachers. To sum it all up, Horace Mann worked effectively for more and better equipped school houses, longer school years (until 16 years old), higher pay for teachers, and a wider curriculum. In 1852, he supported governor Edward Everett in the decision to adopt the Prussian education system in Massachusetts. Shortly after Everett and Mann collaborated to adopt the Prussian system, the Governor of New York set up the same method in twelve different New York schools on a trial basis. The practical result of Mann's work was a revolution in the approach used in the common school system of Massachusetts, which in turn influenced the direction of other states. In carrying out his work, Mann met with bitter opposition by some Boston schoolmasters who strongly disapproved of his innovative pedagogical ideas [4], and by various religious sectarians, who contended against the exclusion of all sectarian instruction from the schools. He is often considered "the father of American public education".[5] Leadership of Antioch College and last years
From 1853 until his death in 1859, he was president of the newly established Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he taught political economy, intellectual and moral philosophy, and natural theology. The college received insufficient financial support due to sectarian infighting; he himself was charged with nonadherence to sectarianism because, previously a Calvinist by upbringing, he joined the Unitarian Church. The college was founded by the Christian Connexion, who later withdrew their funding, but he earned the love of his students and by his many addresses exerted a beneficial influence upon education in the Midwest. Horace Mann also employed the first female faculty member to be paid on an equal basis with her male colleagues, Rebecca Pennell. His commencement message to the class of 1859 to "be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity" is repeated to the graduating class at each commencement.[6] He is buried in the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island, next to his first wife, Charlotte Messer Mann. (Charlotte Messer Mann was the daughter of Asa Messer, an early president of Brown University.) LegacyAntioch College continues to operate in accordance with the egalitarian and humanitarian values of Horace Mann. A monument including his statue stands in lands belonging to the college in Yellow Springs, Ohio with his quote and college motto "Be Ashamed to Die Until You Have Won Some Victory for Humanity." There are a number of schools in the United States named for Mann. Additionally, the University of Northern Colorado named the gates to their campus in his dedication, a gift of the Class of 1910.[7] Further reading
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Categories: Massachusetts State Senators | Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts | American abolitionists | American educators | American educationists | Brown University alumni | Litchfield Law School alumni | American Unitarian Universalists | People from Yellow Springs, Ohio | 1796 births | 1859 deaths | Antioch College | Dedham, Massachusetts CommentsNo comments have been added. |
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